Sean Roche: Ward 6 At-Large

The two biggest opportunities for the City Council to improve our public schools are: * Ensure financial sustainability * Foster greater collaboration among the School Committee and Department, the mayor’s office, and the City Council New development that is in construction or soon to start will contribute to the city’s ongoing revenue. Beyond that, our priority should be to continue to revitalize our village centers and make them more economically productive. I would also consider adjusting the rate at which we are funding our pension obligations, while still meeting our legal deadline. I am committed to working with School Committee members, the mayor’s and superintendent’s offices, and colleagues on the City Council to ensure that we are sharing information among us and communicating consistently with city residents.

As a long-time pedestrian, cycling, and transit advocate in Newton, improving the ability to live, work, and play in Newton without driving is a huge priority. Building new MBTA commuter rail stations will transform Newton, particularly the north side. Getting the platforms funded and built should be the city’s highest transportation priority. We need to pay off our road debt: the accumulated cost of repaving roads because we don’t maintain them, which is relatively cheap, and let them deteriorate, which requires expensive reconstruction. We need to continue the good work over the last decade to make it safer and easier to walk and bicycle around Newton. I am very encouraged by the 60+ crosswalks that now have flashing beacons and the plan to add another 24 in the next year. I would make it a goal to add 3 more per ward, per year. I am strongly in favor of implementing the Newton Walk, Roll, and Bike Network Plan. See below about walking and biking to schools, another priority.

We are fortunate to live in a very safe city. Nonetheless, we face some challenges in the current moment, including rising incidents of hate. And, we must protect our friends, neighbors, and folks who work in and from Newton from the federal overreach on immigration. As a city councilor, I will advocate for police policies that make all vulnerable communities feel seen and protected.

There is little disagreement that we don’t have the parks and recreational facilities that we would all like. We know that we want to do more than we’re currently doing and there are plenty of good ideas. As a regular tennis player, for instance, I would love to see all public courts maintained to a playable level. But, we don’t have the money. And,. as with our roads, our parks, playing fields, and courts become much more expensive to repair when we neglect basic maintenance. Properly managed growth — see above — can increase the funds available to build and maintain the parks and open spaces we want. I’d like us to do a basic study of our parks and recreational opportunities compared to similar communities. Do we have comparable swimming facilities? Playgrounds? Basketball courts? Etc. If not, what new facilities should we be adding to our capital planning. And, I would like to see us turn our attention to the damage to our ecosystem of invasives in our public open spaces.

When I talk to business owners in Newton, I hear three things: It’s too difficult to start or expand a business. They need more foot traffic. They need parking solutions for employees. For the first issue, we need the administration to create playbooks or checklists for gathering the forms and approvals necessary and to adopt a how-can-we-help attitude, so that business owners know what they need to do and have the support to get it done. For the second, we need more people living in more homes near our villages and other commercial areas, which will put “feet on the street” and drive economic production. There is good reason why housing has been and continues to be a priority for the Charles River Chamber of Commerce. The third requires that the city continue the work to identify parking opportunities for employees.

As a threshold matter, I will work with colleagues and the mayor’s office to identify the climate impact of every action and decision that comes before the City Council to ensure that any tradeoffs we make are fully transparent and explained. I think we should focus on three areas of climate resilience/environment: * Restoring the tree canopy * Providing shade (above and beyond the tree canopy) * Planning for what will inevitably be more flooding We have gotten ourselves deep into a tree debt – we’re losing far more trees than we are replacing. We need a huge initiative to start to reduce that trend. Part of the value of the tree canopy is the shade it provides. As we expect more numerous and more debilitating heat events, we need to supplement the tree canopy with other shade, especially in environmental justice neighborhoods. And, we need to be hard-nosed about the potential of flooding and the risks that we can and cannot afford to take on in flood zones.

The number one challenge facing seniors in Newton is the lack of affordable housing options for those who want to downsize from their single-family homes into smaller homes that require less maintenance (by the seniors themselves). Most seniors I speak to want to stay in the community where they have friends, activities, their chosen houses of worship, and the other aspects of living in Newton they’ve grown to love. We need more homes like the ones Opus will provide: apartments for lower- and middle-income seniors with a deep emphasis on community. We also need to recognize that, without additional housing options for young people, Newton is going to continue to skew older and older, which creates economic strain if we want to deliver the services our seniors should expect. I look forward to the opening of the Cooper Center.

Newton’s housing has become unaffordable to too many because of years of housing demand outstripping supply and because for years we have made it illegal to build the kind of housing that best serves seniors and others who cannot afford large, expensive homes. We can start to make housing more affordable, as part of a regional housing market, by increasing the supply of housing and ensuring that it’s the right kind of housing: what’s called missing middle housing. Specifically, we should update our zoning code to expand where we allow triplex, quadplex, and other moderately sized homes, particularly around our village centers and commercial areas. A key engine for building deed-restricted, moderately affordable homes is inclusionary zoning. We need to continue to encourage development that builds affordable homes along with the market-rate homes we also need. I would be in favor of raising the CPC rate to create more funds to build deeply affordable homes.

Nothing succeeds like success. We will attract new businesses to Newton if we take the necessary steps to revitalize our village centers and commercial areas and our existing businesses find greater success. But, it’s not enough to attract new businesses, we need to make it easy to start and expand businesses. We need to reduce red tape and foster an attitude of how-can-we-help-you-succeed with regard to necessary paperwork and regulation. A business owner should know what’s required of them and get all the help they need navigating City Hall.

Pilots of car-free zones around schools (with reasonable exceptions for those whose physical or other challenges require that they be dropped off right at the school). Schools around the globe are realizing the benefits that come from zones around schools that are safe for children on foot and on bikes: healthier air, some moderate physical activity, and a lower-stress start and end to the day – all of which are more conducive to intellectual, social, and emotional growth. More broadly, car-free zones reduce overall car use and traffic, which benefits all of us. I’d like to pilot for a few months at a school or three and see how Newton students could benefit. If we can make it work in pilots, we could expand across the city.